1. Field of the Invention
The structure of this invention resides in the area of sports goals and more particularly relates to a portable sports goal that is lightweight and which when struck by an individual or an object with sufficient force will yield and when such force thereagainst is removed, will re-erect itself.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many ball games utilizing sports goals are often played informally in fields and areas which do not have standard goal structures. Because such games are often impromptu gatherings, it is difficult and usually impossible for the players to bring conventional, full-size goals which for the most part are installed in permanent locations on fields. In such situations players will often use non-standard structures as goals such as stakes, T-shirts or any visible object which can be used to define a goal area for the purpose of the game. For example, if soccer is played or other similar sport where the ball must pass into a goal in order to score points, the ball can be directed between two markers in order to provide a scoring situation. Many times though when using informal goals disagreements can arise among players as to whether points have been scored based on whether the ball has passed outside or above the goal area.
To address the above concerns, portable sports goals have been developed in the prior art such as, for example, the Adjustable Soccer Goal of Moosavi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,375; the Portable Soccer Goal Apparatus of Borazjani, U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,461; and Portable Soccer Goal of Caruso et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,507; and Portable Soccer Goal of Pennell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,272. The inventions of Pennell and Caruso et al employ a system of triangular braces or straight line framing pieces. Some of these goals utilize separate parts which are assembled into a goal framework. Some portable sports goals have features which cause the ball to rebound out of the goal such as found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,844 of Haseltine or some that return the ball in a particular way such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,786 of Papadopolis.